“The private sector says the proposed legislation is not open enough and we want all the ideas and solutions from entrepreneurs. With this legislation, there will be only 14 nationally-funded innovation universities, but the statute will allow for any number of private institutions,” added Sibal.

The highlighted part clarifies how the universities are going to be funded. The draft bill mentioned that some innovation universities will be made by the government and some by private parties. It appeared that it talked about the announced 14 universities. That would have been unfair to the locations whose innovation universities were to be funded privately . The above makes things clear. However it is still unclear what benefit would a private party get by making an innovation university and thus being obligated to follow the statute of the innovation universities. Will the status or label of "innovation university" help them in some way. Otherwise they can become a state university with a tailor made statute.

… The nature of administrative structure, too, figured prominently in the discussion. For instance, it was felt that there is no need to have both academic board and board of governors.

"Delayering of administrative structure was suggested," a source said.

… Since Innovative Universities will be set up around a theme, it was felt that they should be multi-disciplinary in nature. It was suggested that while theme could be a good idea for the university to start with, gradually it can develop a multi-disciplinary approach.

… According to the minister, themes for Innovation Universities will be decided not by the government but by the institutions themselves.

The government will set up 14 fully-funded Innovation Universities in Greater Noida, Amritsar, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Mysore, Gandhinagar, Jaipur, Kolkata, Bhopal and Kochi.

But the number of universities to be set up by private sector has not yet been decided.

(The reporter only listed 11 out of the 14 locations. The three that were missed are: Guwahati, Patna and Pune.)

… "We will redraft the proposed legislation. The legislation does not spell out the outcomes. The legislation must set up objective and have criteria for outcome," HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said today. … Talking to reporters after holding deliberation with different stakeholders, industry body and academicians, Sibal said there was a broad consensus that the legislation should be taken forward. "However, there was also emphasis on the need to make the existing institutions attain world class standards in teaching, research and innovation". He said necessary changes to be made in the Universities for Innovation Bill is to ensure that initiatives and energy of the promoters are not stifled in an excessive regulatory mechanism. Sources said some promoters had certain objections to the appointment of vice chancellors to such universities through the collegium process. Sibal also said relaxation of the regulation mechanism was also felt as some had objections to the 20 per cent cap on appointment of graduating students with excellent academic record as assistant professors. The legislation allows appointment by invitation of any graduating students with high academic distinction as assistant professors in such university provided the total number of post filled by such policy does not exceed 20 per cent of the total sanctioned posts of assistant professors. The Bill is expected to be tabled in the Winter session of Parliament this year. With uniqueness being the hallmark of such centres, Sibal said the universities could be theme-based. "These institutes should identify areas having a direct bearing on community and environment while research and innovation could revolve around them," he said. …

The Anil Agarwal Foundation’s Vedanta University project, to be housed in Orissa, is likely to be issued environmental and coastal regulatory zone clearance. The proposed university project will now have to give up 200 acres of the 6,892 acres allocated to it, to address a coastal regulatory zone clearance.

It will be located on the Puri-Konark Marin Drive. These clearances were put in abeyance in May, after the environment ministry received information alleging irregularities, illegal and unlawful deeds by the Foundation. The university project had been given conditional environment and CRZ clearance in April. The proposed Vedanta University project is estimated to involve an amount worth Rs 150 billion.

We need to keep a close watch for any further hanky-panky. We need to make efforts to convince the honorable governor to sign the bill. Finally, keeping in mind the open offer from Andhra and Karnataka we need to urge the CM as well as Vedanta University authorities to speed up work. (Note that already due to Odisha government’s dilly-dallying we may lose Amrita University and Medical College to Andhra.)

Update: A bit of Googling revealed that the trust also approached Andhra Pradesh about 2 weeks back. See http://expressbuzz.com/cities/hyderabad/amritanandamayi-math-plans-to-set-up-university/197221.html. Since their proposal to Odisha was sent about a year back, it is not clear if they are still interested in Odisha or because of Odisha’s delay they will go to Hyderabad. While their VC went to Hyderabad to meet AP CM, no one of that stature came to Odisha. So if Odisha really wants it they must move fast in offering the land.

Mata Amritanandamayi Math Trust proposed to set up an ultra modern medical college and hospital in the state. The Government has approved the proposal of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math Trust on Thursday for setting up of an ultra modern university in city at an investment of Rs 700 crore. In the first phase the Trust will invest a sum of Rs 500 crore and the admission will be started within two years.

The Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has approved the proposal of the Trust on Thursday . The proposed university would be provided 150 acres of land somewhere between Bhubaneswar and Khurda.

The Higher Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra. said that the Chief Minister has approved the proposal of the Math Trust . As per the proposal, the Trust would set up a medical college and hospital along with institutions which would impart engineering, nano technology, biotechnology, ayurveda, Arts and Science subjects. The university would have facilities for imparting various courses to nearly 25 thousand students of which five percent would be reserved for meritorious students belonging to BPL families. It would provide study loans to the poor meritorious students. The Trust would also open off-campuses in other cities of the State, he said.

Informing about the success story of the universities set up by the Trust, the Minister said the former has already set up five universities in three States including Coimbatore of Tamil Nadu and Keral which have been successfully imparting quality education. The proposed university would invest Rs 3 crore per each bed in its medical college and hospital.

The trust has set a target to start admissions in two years time. It would begin the construction work forthwith after lands are allotted and no special legislation would be required, Minister said.

Indeed this trust has set up some very good institutions in the south. Its main institution, Amrita Universityis a very gooduniversity with campuses inKeralaatAmritapuri andKochi, inKarnatakaatBangaloreandMysore, and inTamil NaduatEttimadai. (Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amrita_Vishwa_Vidyapeetham) Its vice Chancellor Dr. P. Venkat Rangan is a well known scientist and very well respected in the US. Please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venkat_Rangan. He became a full professor at the age of 33 in a top USUniversity(Univ of California San Diego). AmritaUniversity‘s business, engineering and medical schools are nationally ranked: AmritaSchool of Business is ranked 28 (2010 rediff careers 360 ranking); AmritaSchool of Engineering is ranked 27 (2009 Dataquest ranking) and AmritaSchool of Medical Sciences is ranked 18 (2009 India Today ranking). It has Schools of Engineering at Amritapuri, Bangalore and Ettimadai (Coimbatore), School of Business at Ettimadai Schools of Arts and Sciences at Amritapuri and Mysore, Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Dentistry at Kochi, and many other schools. It is in collaboration with major US Universitieshttp://www.amrita.edu/indo-us/. It is one of the very few universities in India that offers a dual Masters degree program together with a top USuniversity(SUNY Buffalo).

Some may be disappointed that why this university in Bhubaneswar and not in another place in Odisha. The following is what I was told. Some Odia disciples of Mata Amrutanandamayi approached the government about this almost a year back. The government proposed them another location away from Bhubaneswar. The organization wanted Bhubaneswar. The last I heard the stalemate was going on. Today I read in the paper about this.

There is one lesson one can take away from this and other recent examples. Other locations which want such institutions should contact appropriate trusts and let the trust propose their location. I think the government will support that. Not only that if the location that is proposed is a backward area the government would chip in with land as well as 10 crores. The recent medical college proposal for Keonjhar comes to mind. So that is where the energy should be put. Alternatively, one may follow the JITM route, which now is a state university in Parlakhemundi. One needs to take such initiatives and be motivated by successes at other places.

For example, now that various organizations came together and successfully stopped Vedanta mining in Kalhandi, those organizations should be contacted to help the development of Kalahandi in other ways starting with higher educational institutions and eco-tourism infrastructure. I think Dr. Digambar Patra has already contacted some of them, but a more concerted effort would be good.

… IIT-Bhubaneswar director Madhusudan Chakroborty said “besides setting up state-of-the-art laboratories, students are being encouraged to involve themselves in product design competition.”

While student whose design would be adjudged as the best would get Rs. 10,000 prize, second best design would get Rs.7,000, Professor Chakraborty said. In fact top 10 designs will be provided fabrication support for shaping the product, he said.

“We want IIT-Bhubaneswar to excel in product design and creation especially in auto and manufacturing sector,” the director said.

The institute is now working on multi-million pound plans to set-up laboratories such as Materials and Tomography. It may also think of procuring rapid prototyping, which is used for automatic construction of physical objects using additive manufacturing technology. Rapid prototyping is needed for the unique materials and tomography laboratory, which is being dubbed as unique.

Prof. Chakraborty, who just spent a month at Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) of United Kingdom-based Warwick University working with its technology specialists, said the institute was looking at a long-term collaboration with the university.

… IIT, Bhubaneswar director said the institute is trying to establish long-term tie-up with industries which could work with its students in institute’s facility centre.

The institute proposed to set up a school of design and creative arts, besides their main focus on environment and climate science which is an important issue for the region often battered by natural disasters, Mr. Chakraborty said.

… The institute has been provided with 936 acres of land near Jatni, on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. Contour survey of the land has been completed while master plan for construction is ready. The construction would start in December 2010.

WMG, University of Warwick will help IIT-Bhubaneswar set up high-end research laboratories on its main campus. IIT-Kharagpur, the mentoring institute of IIT-Bhubaneswar, recently entered into a joint venture with the university in this regard.

“WMG will help us set up its research laboratories here,” said IIT-Bhubaneswar director M. Chakraborty, who is back after spending a month at WMG.

The director, in association with technology specialists there, held discussions and planned on the superspeciality laboratories.

“We will work together towards setting up of high-end laboratories for materials and tomography processes as for example,” said the director, who has been appointed a visiting professor at WMG.

… “We wish to draw on WMG’s successful record procedures of engaging with the local industry,” he said, adding that during his visit to the UK he worked with WMG director Lord Kumar Bhattacharya and other people on industry-academia relationships and development of some new education modules.

A team of WMG research staff and industrialists will shortly be visiting IIT-Bhubaneswar to explore opportunities for the partnership. Experts from mineral and materials technology, e -security design disciplines and those who will foster good industry–academia relationship will comprise the team, he said. IIT-Bhubaneswar has already appointed an architect — the first among the new IITs to do so.

Excerpt from Warwick VC’s statement: WMG’s technology specialists have advised on IIT Bhubaneshwar’s multi-million pound plans to set up laboratories in materials and tomography and a dozen WMG research staff and allied industrialists will now visit India in November to continue to build the overall partnership with Kharagpur and Bhubaneshwar.

The Central University of Orissa is setting up a medical college and a hospital that will bring health care at the doorsteps of the people in the region.

… “A hospital in the region would bring relief to the people,” the Vice-Chancellor of the University Surabhi Banerjee toldTheHindu.

A detailed interim project report has been submitted to the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

… a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) for establishing a School of Health Sciences, for collaboration in teaching and research in Masters in Public Health Management. The school will also run courses in Nursing Sciences and Allied Health Sciences.

A similar MoU will be signed with Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore, for training in medical and allied health sciences. … The Delhi-based Jamia Hamdard University has also extended help in the field of allied sciences.

As the university enters its second year at the end of this month, it intends to tie up with the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation for setting up a School of Bio-Diversity and Conservation of Natural Resources, and with the Chennai Institute of Mathematical Studies, that will offer a 5 year Integrated M.Sc in Mathematics

Grooming students

“But only obtaining a degree is not enough in today’s competitive world. Personality development is equally important. I have involved the British Council for improving the communication skills of students. The Council has already commenced classes where 75 students have enrolled,” she explained.

In addition to imparting training in Information Technology, efforts are being made to groom and counsel the students before they are ready to “take off.”

At present, 150 students from across the country have been enrolled in the University in the School of Languages and the School of Social Sciences. The former offers Post Graduation courses in English and Oriya, while the latter provides Post Graduation courses in Anthropology, Sociology and Mass Communication and Journalism. The Academic Council has also approved Ph.D Programmes.

Professor Banerjee is also working on a proposal to start an Institute of Marine Biotechnology.

The headline of the above mentioned Hindu report says: "Orissa Central University to set up medical college, hospital." But the content only says that they have submitted a DPR. It does not say that MHRD has agreed for the medical college. It is possible that MHRD is trying to not publicize it at this stage and thus has just encouraged CUO Koraput for the medical college and thus they have sent the DPR. In other words it is not a done deal until MHRD agrees to the proposal and the budget gets passed. We need to see in March 2012 if it is in next year’s budget.

Nevertheless kudos to VC of CUO Koraput as timely sending a DPR is important. Earlier in February 2010 the news was that she was about to send a DPR. Now she has sent it. So that is a good step. Also, now that the DPR has been sent the state can more forcefully lobby for the DPR to be approved. (Before sendng a DPR a tactics that is often used by various ministries when asked for something is: "Send us a proposal or DPR.")

Even as the Congress and BJP, two parties in the opposition bench in Orissa, are stiffly opposing the setting up of the Vedanta University Project at Puri, two south Indian states, where the government of these parties are in power, are vying with each other to get the project relocated to their respective state.

First it was Karnataka, which had sent feelers to Vedanta chief Anil Agarwal and assured him all support if he decided to relocate the project to the state.

Now, it is Andhra Pradesh chief minister K. Rosaiah, who has gone all out to woo Agarwal to set up the university project in his state. Congratulating Agarwal for entering the shores of Andhra Pradesh through acquisition of majority stake in Cairns India which has interest in KG Basin, Rosaiah in a letter to Vedanta chief has urged him to cement the ties further by complementing the Andhra Pradesh government’s efforts to make the state global centre of learning.

Meanwhile, the fate of jinxed Vedanta University Project appears to be sealed as the company has shifted 26 of its 30 staff at the site to other locations. “All work on the project put on halt and the residual staff will also be withdrawn shortly, said a company official.

In his letter to Agarwal, who is also the chairman of Anil Agarwal Foundation (AAF), Rosaiah said, “I request you to choose Andhra Pradesh as the state has a unique capacity and culture to nurture the institute of your dreams that will put Indian education back on the global map. I depute the chief executive officer of AP Invest, the state government’s nodal agency, to make a detailed presentation to you in this regard. I assure you that the state government will extend every possible support to this endeavour.”

“Your vision of building a research university of the stature of Stanford in India, your dream of providing higher education of global standards to over one lakh students is all the more heartening. My government strongly believes in nurturing great institutions of learning in the state. As part of this vision, we have successfully invited institutions of excellence like Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Chrisitian Medical College-Vellore and Indian Institute of Science-Bangalore to start their academic and research campuses in the state”, the letter added.

AAF had sought around 6000 acres of land for building a university project of international standards in Orissa. The universit was to come up on the Puri-Konark marine drive at an investment of Rs 5000 crore.

The university, when fully operational, was to have an intake of 100,000 with a total construction area of 273.68 lakh sq metres. This proposed university would have a provision for quality higher education and cutting-edge research facility in 95 academic disciplines.

The project could not progress on the ground due to stiff opposition from the locals and opposition parties over land acquisition. Though the company had acquired about 4000 acres on paper, it was unable to take physical possession of the land. “Whenever we went to start work on the project, we were chased away by the local villagers”, rued the company official. Even the initial plan to build a 1000-bed super-speciality hospital at the site met with hostility, he added.

To make the matters worse for the company, the Union ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) had put in abeyance its earlier order granting environment clearance to the project.

The following is from http://orissasambad.com/news_article.php?id=34016. It states that the Chief Minister did bring up the issue of Vedanta University with the environment ministry. That is a good first step. But more needs to be done. Watch out this space for more plan of action. For now, you may still

Under the Future Faculty Programme, PHFI is pleased to announce the following fellowships

WELLCOME TRUST PROGRAMME (2009-2014)

In 2009, PHFI, along with a consortium of 14 British Universities, was awarded a £ 5 million (pounds) capacity building grant for faculty development. This ambitious 5 year programme aims to develop the teaching and research skills of PHFI’s faculty members by supporting their growth at various career stages. This programme includes opportunities for graduate and doctoral studies, collaborative research projects and research fellowships, and faculty exchanges.

IIT Bhubaneswar invites applications for faculty positions at the level of Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor (on contractual basis) in the following five Schools:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION
Ph.D. with first class or equivalent in the preceding degree in appropriate branch with a very good academic record throughout and evidence of ability to pursue independent high quality research.

EXPERIENCE

Professor: A minimum of 10 years teaching / research / industrial experience of which at least 4 years should be at the level of Associate Professor in IITs, IISc Bangalore, IIMs, NITIE Mumbai and IISERs or at an equivalent level in any such other Indian or foreign institutions of comparable standards.

Associate Professor: At least 6 years teaching / research / industrial experience of which at least 3 years should be at the level of Assistant Professor, Senior Scientific Officer / Senior Design Engineer.

Assistant Professor: At least 3 years teaching / research / industrial experience excluding, however, the experience gained while pursuing Ph.D.

Assistant Professor (on contractual basis): May have less than 3 years teaching / research / industrial experience.

In the above cases experience will be counted excluding that gained while pursuing Ph.D.

In addition to above pay, allowances as admissible to Central Government employees are applicable.

OTHER INCENTIVES

1. A cumulative Professional Development Allowance of Rs. 3 lakhs for every block period of 3 years on reimbursement basis to meet the expenses for attending international/national conferences, paying membership fees of professional bodies, covering book grant, paying telephone charges and meeting contingent expenses etc. as per Institute guidelines.

2. Initial seed grant up to Rs.5 lakhs for initiating research project in a chosen area.

3. Reimbursement of relocation charges at the time of joining up to a ceiling of Rs. 90,000/- as per Institute norm.

4. Honorarium of Rs. 15,000/- per month to the faculty members who have obtained Bhatnagar Award OR are Fellows of at least two National Academies. A faculty member is entitled for only one honorarium.

NOTES

• Reservation for SC/ST/OBC/PH as per Government of India rules.
• Minimum requirement of experience may be relaxed in respect of outstanding candidates.
• Mere eligibility will not vest any right on any candidate for being called for interview. The decision of the Institute in all matters of selection will be final.
• The Institute reserves the right to call only the requisite number of candidates for interview after shortlisting in terms of the candidates’ qualification, suitability and experience.
• For the post of Assistant Professor the candidates should be preferably below 35 years of age
• Canvassing in any manner would entail disqualification of the candidature.

NO INTERIM ENQUIRIES WILL BE ENTERTAINED.

HOW TO APPLY

Candidates possessing the requisite qualification and experience may submit their application in the prescribed form either in hard-copy or by e-mail to the Assistant Registrar (A&E), Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Samantapuri, Bhubaneswar – 751013 (email: faculty.app@iitbbs.ac.in).

Application form can be downloaded from the Institute website (www.iitbbs.ac.in or www.iitbbs.gov.in).

Applicants desiring to apply for more than one School should send separate application for
each School.

The candidates applying from Government Organizations or Public Sector Undertaking should have their applications duly forwarded by their present employer.

The candidates may apply any time throughout the year. The Institute will consider the applications at any date in the year received up to that date depending on its requirements and/or the quality of the applications.

First round of selection process will start after 20th September, 2010.

The Indian Institute of Science, a leading institution of higher learning with a strong tradition of research for over a century, is opening its portals to undergraduate students by launching a four-year Bachelor of Science (BS) Programme. The programme is designed as a balanced blend of core science and interdisciplinary topics, to serve as a launching pad for research and doctoral studies in cutting-edge areas in science and technology. The graduates will also be ready for attractive career opportunities in academia and industry.

I think the best possibility is to work on upgrading VSSUT, Burla (formerly, UCE Burla) to an IIEST. UCE Burla alumni is fully supportive of this. In general, such a proposal has and will continue to have support from all circles of Odisha. Also, the CM has in the past written to Delhi about upgrading this.

To do this first the state government needs to be pushed to give a one time allocation of a significant amount (say 100 crores) to improve the infrastructure. In addition the faculty size needs to be increased to be at the level of the colleges mentioned below. Simultaneously there should be a campaign to convince the central government to upgrade it to an IIEST.